Phoenix Rising
by Der Morgenstern
Summary: Alternate Book 3. Starts after the season 2 finale with a different take on the story. Three weeks have passen since the fall of the Earth Kingdom, the Avatar still in coma, for now the group has to keep up the fight without Aang.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Here is the first chapter of my story. Since it is the first time I am writing something like this I doubt that it will be very good and it gets most likely changed and corrected once I get some feedback on what is all wrong. Please note that I am not writing in my mother language and while I do my best and use spell checks there will be most likely more mistakes then from a native speaker.

_Three weeks after the fall of the Earth Kingdom_

The caravan was still a days march from the recently fallen Earth Kingdom capital Ba Sing Se away, but the heavy cargo of arms and supplies for the garrison of the occupation troops of the city were slowing the Fire Nation troops and their animals down. The rocky and uneven terrain did not help either. Their route was filled with hills and mountains to all sides and the path they were tacking was hard to recognise as it was filled with dirt and rocks.

Despite a century of war against the Earth Kingdom the soldiers still felt uneasy in this kind of terrain. It lacked the familiar heat and flames of their home, and worst of all, it was prone to attacks. The Earth Kingdom was defeated, but some still resisted, and while their numbers were small it was hard to track and find them, especially since they knew every inch of this land.

The commander of the caravan was leading his troop from his Komodo Rhino trying to keep an watchful eye on the surroundings, but it was hard to see anything in this dark moonless night and he had forbidden the use of torches while travelling, as they would have easily given away their presence and he did not want that his men would become the next prey for those too stubborn to accept the defeat of their nation.

They were about to reach another hill which they had to climb as no other route was available. The Lieutenant did not like the situation at all as they were unable to see what was on top or behind of it.

"Halt!" he ordered his men.

"You two!" he pointed his arm at two of his unmounted soldiers.

"Scout ahead and make sure the area ahead of us is clear. Return when done. The rest of us will wait here. I don't want to walk right into an..."

"AMBUSH!!" he was interrupted by one of his men. At least a dozen figures were appearing out of the shadows of the night, closing fast onto them, too fast to be running humans.

The Lieutenant needed a second to catch himself, but then started yelling out commands. "Lights! Turn on the Torches! Formate yourself between the attackers and the wagons. Use your spears and keep the swords in the holsters, they must be using cavalry! Infantry in the middle, riders to the flanks!"

His men were hurrying to follow his orders and to fall into position. The enemy was approaching fast, but his men had discovered them early enough to give them time to prepare themselves. He had twenty men on foot who were now standing a few meters in front the wagons pointing their spears towards the fast approaching attackers bracing them for the onslaught. To each to their side were three Soldiers mounted on Komodo Rhinos, sightly ahead of them, forming a crescent formation. The Lieutenant was standing with his mount behind the Infantry trying to get a better picture of the Situation.

He was surprised that the attackers had chosen to engage them from the north were they were much easier to detect thanks to slightly more even terrain. If they had attacked from the south they had most likely not even had enough time to form a formation. And while he had no benders under his command he was confident that they would be able to repel the assault.

Unless they wanted us to see them. A troubling though started to rise in the back of his mind. He was about to turn his mount around so he would face the Bull Antelope-pulled wagons behind them, when he heart one of the animals crying out followed by the other four. With distress he saw how a second group, that must have sneaked upon them while they were distracted by the first one, released the Bull Antelope from the wagons and sent them into the wild by giving them a clap on the back causing them to start running away at high speed. At the same time some of the second group searched through the supplies and picked up some of it and then used the torches the Lieutenant had ordered to be lit to set the rest on fire.

The Lieutenant realised that he was already beaten before the first blood was drawn. He shouted out in anger and turned his mount to the closes attacker of the second group and charged. His cry went not unnoticed. The enemy he had focused on looked straight at him. He was riding an Ostrich-Horse and his head was covered behind a masked wolf helmet. In this dark night, with only the stars and the flames of the wagons to bring some light, he looked more like a monster from a horror story people tell each other at campfires then a human. The Lieutenant's spear was aimed at the masked warrior as his Komodo Rhino raced toward him.

The wolfhead turned to him, but instead of charging as well or trying to evade him. He simply kept still on his Ostrich-Horse, waiting calmly for the attack without showing any indication that he would attempt to defend himself. He did not even raise the exotic club like weapon in his hand. If his eyes were not fixed on the Fire Nation soldier one might even believe he had not noticed the danger at all. It was just in the second before getting pierced by the soldiers spear the warrior reacted by letting himself fall off backwards from his Ostrich-Horse rolling on the ground, his mount now between him and the Firesoldier and his Komodo Rhino.

The Lieutenant aimed his spear once more but before he got deliver a second attack the wolfman raised from the ground with surprising agility and escaped the reach of the weapon with a mix of jumping and running. As soon as he was about 20 yards from the soldiers away he simply stopped. He did not try to flee, nor did he seem to want to launch a counter attack. He just waited for his opponents next move.

The Lieutenants rage reached another level, first he was led into an ambush, then tricked and now this masked clown did not even engage him in an open battle but was toying with him. He led his Komodo Rhino to another charge on the warrior, holding his spear tight. And once more the wolfman did not react until the seemingly last moment.

He tried to roll out of the path of the Komodo Rhino but this time the Lieutenant had expected something like this. He had thrown his spear shortly before reaching his enemy hoping to hit him before he could evade his attack again. And he did hit. The spearhead cut through the light armour on the left shoulder and sliced into some of the skin before impaling itself into the ground behind the warrior.

Despite the light injury the wolfman did not slow down and kept moving. Pushing himself up from the rocky ground and again jumping away from the Lieutenant. Trailing him further away from the the wagons now blazing in fire. The soldier drew his short sword and pushed his mount toward his enemy, but before he could charge him again he saw that this time something was different.

The masked figure was now not only holding his club in one hand, but also another weird looking weapon in the other hand. He could not identify the weapon in the darkness, but assumed it was a weird formed dagger or something similar. He was wrong. The warrior raised the arm with the exotic formed weapon and drew it behind his hand before pushing it forward in a sudden movement releasing it into the air. The Lieutenant prepared to block the incoming weapon with his sword but sighted in relief when it simply flew past him, missing him by several feet.

What he did not see was that the weapon changed its course after it passed him and returned. He felt a blunt sudden pain in his back and cried out, more out of surprise then of actual pain. His body turned stiff and he without realising hit the edge of his sword cut into the skin of his Komodo Rhino. His mount let out an angry growl and rose itself on his hind legs, trying to shake off the source of its pain. Losing control the soldier felt down from his mount hitting the ground. The masked warrior slowly walked to him in calm steps.

The soldier started to desperately search his surroundings after his sword, which he had lost during the fall, using his hands rather then his eyes as he could hardly see anything. His heart went from rapid beating to a sudden stop when the saw the wolfman standing just a few feet away from him, picking something up from the ground and moved it behind his back, seemingly fitting it on his armour. After he was done he turned his head once more to the Fire Nation soldier, who could for the first time see the blue eyes behind the mask. His left hand finally found the swordgrip. Still lying on the ground, he rapidly closed his fist around it and moved the sword before his body, the point aimed at the warrior.

The wolfman overcame the remaining distance between them with a quick jump. The Lieutenant tried to stab him with his sword, but his attack was easily blocked by the club. In a swift move the blue-eyed warrior pushed the attacking sword and the arm that held it to the side. He put his right foot onto the forearm with enough pressure that the soldier was forced to let go of his weapon. Unarmed and completely defeated the soldier looked at his victorious enemy and asked with a weak and yet angered voice

"Who are you?"

The warrior attached his club to his belt. Bolt was dripping from the shoulder wound he had received from the spear. He raised both hand to his helmet, lifting it, revealing his face.

"I am Sokka. Warrior of the Water Tribe."


	2. Interlude 1

"Hey Aang, we are back!" Katara greeted the Avatar as she returned to the restplace were Aang and Appa were waiting near a small camp fire.

"Momo and I found some food. Mostly berries and fungi that are edible. I'll use them later to brew a stew if that is alright with you."

Momo flew with a few quick strokes with his wings from Katara to Aang. Greeting him by playing with his tongue and paws on the Airbender's face.

"Stop that Momo!" the young waterbender ordered the lemur. "..or you won't get any of the berries." She threaten the pet.

He looked at her, turning his head to the side. He obviously had not understood a single word the girl just said. Nor did he care much for it as a group of small cat-butterflies flying over them caught his attention. He spreads his arms and launched himself into the air. Katara was not sure if he just wanted to play or was actually hunting them...but she had bigger problems anyway.

"We won't be able to stay here for much longer Aang." She sat down next to Aang. "It gets harder and harder to find any food so high up the mountain. A few more days and I won't be able to find anything at all. What do think you should we do? The north pole is still too far..and even the Northern Temple might be risky considering your con.." she stopped herself, looking at Aang in silence waiting for an answer. Her patience would not be rewarded.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation when you finally wake up from your coma..I just hope time won't run out until then."


	3. Chapter 2

The ship was heading right into the setting sun. To the west, to the Fire Nation, to his..home.  
Zuko was standing at the ship's bow, starring at the distance. They had been on sea for a few days, but the Fire Nation was still far away. The sea was calm, yet his mind was troubled. He had waited years for this..to be able to come home, regain his honour and be welcomed back by his father, the Fire Lord. And still he was restless. This voyage felt like a torture and every hour of it turned into days and weeks. And it did not help either that he had not a single good night sleeps since the events in Ba-Sing-Se. When he lied in his bed and closed his eyes their faces would visit him..the faces of those he had betrayed and let down . Katara, his Uncle..and his mother. He had done his duty. He had fulfilled his mission and defeated the Avatar at Azula's side..but at night those faces turned away from him in disdain, with expressions in their faces that ranged from sadness, to sheer anger or simple disappointment.

"Are going to keep starring at the water until this voyage his over?" a voice asked from behind, making no attempt to hide the boredom that flew with the question.

"I know I should be happy Mai." Zuko started to reply. "But I can't shake the feeling that I..." he did not finish his sentence. Instead he turned around and looked at her. "Never mind. I doubt that you left Ba-Sing-Se to listen to me rumbling...then again why did you want to come with me?"

He mustered the the seemingly emotionless tall girl. Her two black hair tails were wavering in the wind, together with er long red robe.

"I was bored. There are only so many victory parades one can watch before it wants to make you jump the walls."

It was a typical answer from the girl. It was obvious that that was not all, but Mai never opened up to anybody.

So why should she to me? Zuko wondered himself. At least she had not thrown any knives at him since they boarded the ship. He considered that as being on her "good side", as far as that was possible with her.

"Let's get inside." he suggested. "It is getting cold out here and I don't want to risk any firebending. There are still Water Tribe ships in this area looking for easy prey."

Her only response was a small growl, but since she followed his example he assumed that she did agree. They went under deck to the captain's quarter which the Fire Prince had been offered from the ship's commander. It was one of the few rooms in the ship that felt not too small and cramped so he gladly accepted it. It was easy to feel like in a prison when one spent too much time in the cabins so he did not mind the extra space.  
Besides the large bed and the obligatory decoration with Fire Nation flags and symbols there was a desk, big enough for two people and a pair of chairs. Like almost everything in the ship the furniture was made of metal. Wood on board a ship by people who use firebending as their weapon of choice was deemed somewhat of fire hazard.

Zuko grabbed the first chair and offered the second to Mai. Ignoring his offer she went straight to he bed and let herself fall on it. Lying on her bed and spreading her arms to the sides.

"So tired?" Zuko asked with a slight mocking tone.

"No." was her deadpan answer. "Bored. Bored. To. Death. Since you ..forbid me to train my throwing skills I have not much left to do.."

"I can't just let you use my crew as practice targets! Someone might get hurt..and we need them if we ever want to finish this Voyage."

He answered slightly annoyed. This girl had scared the crap out of the whole crew after pinning several soldiers to walls or the floor. But he neither was in the moods for great lectures...nor did he want to become her next target.

"Nonetheless I blame you for having nothing to do and being so bored that I might even start to miss my little brother.."

"Has there ever been a time you were not bored?" asked the Fire Prince, rolling his eyes.

"Hunting those kids was actually ..entertaining. At least for some time."

The Firebender was a bit surprised at the revelation that she could enjoy anything. "Then why did you not stay behind with your friends? After all most of them are still free." Those I did not help kill or let rot in Azula's dungeon...

"Like I said...for some time. When I got told to guard some weird 9 feet tall pet belonging to a crazy king it started to go downhill..."

Zuko simply raised the eyebrow of his good eye at that comment. Silence hung in the air for several long seconds. Then Mai continued: "And your sister...I think she is losing it."

The Fire Prince quickly looked to the door, afraid that someone might have opened the door and heart that comment. Talking about Azula's was always a dangerous business. She did not take gossip likely regarding her person. Daring to say something negative about her could easily bring on of her Dai-Le henchmen on the plan. The shame the Fire Prince felt inside grew once more as he realised that he was afraid of his sister...of what she was capable to do.

"Do you think it is wise to talk about her in that way?" he finally asked.

"Maybe not..but I know for sure that it is neither wise nor healthy to stick around her at the moment." she countered. "She was always obsessed with power and mindgames..even when we were young."

In Zukos head flashes from the past appeared. How they all played together in the royal garden, how his mother loved him...He quickly purged them. He had no interest in tormenting himself with memories from a life he had long lost. And I feel ashamed to look my mother in the eyes...even in my own head. He added quietly.

"...but since she got control of the city, the Dai-Li...and killed the Avatar it has become so much worse. Ty Lee tries her best to cheer her up...a task even more of an fool's errand as the one you got after your banishment, and to stop things from getting worse..but she will fail."

Zuko did not answer..he had no answers. He was trying to tell himself that things were not that bad. Once the war was completely over and the last resistance defeated things would become surely more normal. It was not like Ba-Sing-Se was that a great place to live in before..not with the Dai-Li watching every step of its citizens. He was doing a pretty good job at convincing himself..so good he almost could believe that things would turn out well in the end...but only almost.

"For now, lets just try to get...home...safely." He tried to put an end to the subject.

"Sure, whatever." Mai returned, now again in her usual mood.

Once again the room was filled with prolonged silence. Neither of both were known for being great at conversations or being very interested in small talk. Sometimes Zuko wondered why Mai did spent most time on the Ship with him..then again what else was there do her. He thought about trying to start another conversation, but failed to come up with anything to talk about..at least anything he was willing to share.

"I am going to get some exercise done." The Fire Prince finally stated, just to end this silent stalemate.

"I though you did not want to use your bending..." Mai replied.

"I was not talking about bending..." Mai raised her head so she could see him from the bed. He pointed to his two Dao swords hanging at the wall of the cabin.

"You still have those toys?" teased she him.

"They are not toys!" he replied firm..."Or are you just jealous because my knives are bigger then yours?" he replied on a softer tone.

Mai snorted, but the Firebender could see a small hint of a smile on her face. A very rare sight.  
She pushed herself up from the bed and looked to the Fire Prince for a few moments, who was still standing at the wall with the swords.

"So..what are you waiting for? I hope you don't want me to cheer for you..." She asked him.

"Uhm..I need to get changed first..I can't train in this robe." He pointed at his outfit. It was a more formal dress, of the kind he had not worn for a long time. These kind of clothes were reserved for a prince, not for a renegade son in exile. He had started wearing these sorts after they boarded the ship..hoping they would help him getting used to be...back in the family.

"So?" she asked him. "It is not like I have never seen you running around naked before."

"WHAT?" The Prince replied shocked. "You have never seen me naked!"

"Sure I did, though I admit it has been a while." Her face still managed to avoid showing any emotions..if it were not for her shining eyes which betrayed her and showed that she found quite some pleasure in torturing Zuko like this.

"When? How?" he demanded to know. "Did you secretly peep in my room back home?" he asked. His voice was a mix out of anger, shock, confusion and embarrassed.

"Not at all. It happened when we were all quite young. You just had started your first firebending lessons. One day a group of show artist arrived at the palace to entertain the royal court and some other nobles." Mai started to explain. Zuko's face revealed that he was trying to remember the event the girl was describing.

"Among them were also some firebenders, who used their skills to perform various acts. Like creating a dragon out of their flames and so on. Apparently a certain prince was very impressed by their performance..so much that he tried to sneak out that night and get to the training yard in the garden..." she continued. Zuko's face started to become red as he started to remember the night Mai was talking about.

"My family was in the palace at that time as guest of the Fire Lord. I woke up when you tried to sneak past my room and I followed you out of boredom...ah and by the way, you were not very good sneaking back then. It was a small miracle that you did not wake up the half palace." Once more she teased him. It seemed to become a hobby of hers.

"So there you were, all alone in the yard..well almost..trying to copy the moves you saw earlier at the show. When you tried to create a dragon with your flames you somehow managed to set your clothes on fire. You ripped them quickly of your body and threw them on the ground watching them burn out completely..."

"You...saw that?" Zuko asked nervously, despite knowing that the answer was obvious.

"Not just that, but also how you raced back to your room..naked...hoping to get there before anyone could see you. Well I fear that did not work as well as planned." Now even her face clearly stated that she drew enjoyment out of the embarrassment of the Prince.

"Did you...did you tell anyone about this?" It was clear that he was thinking about his sister.

"No...at least not yet. I thought it might come useful if I never needed a favour from the next Fire Lord to have something back up my sleeves..well at least something besides my knives."

"You would not dare..." Zuko started.

"Try me." she interrupted him.

The Prince raised his hand in resignation.

"Nevertheless, let me assure you that my bending has improved more then enough to prevent future...incidents like this one.." As has my sneaking.

"Pity." was her deadpan answer.

"Were you hoping for an encor..." A shockwave rocked the ship and a muffled explosion was heart inside the cabin. Unprepared, the Prince had no time to catch something to hold onto and was send to the ground. A few meters away a female voice cried out in pain.

"Mai!" he shouted out. He jumped back on his feet while the ship was still waving around. He looked around the room and found Mai had been thrown against the cabin wall and was now lying on the ground with her head on the floor.

Zuko jumped to her. He tried to help her up but as he tried to move her Mai shouted again out in pain. The robe on er back started to turn into a very dark red in several spots.  
Blood. She is bleeding...but how? Zuko wondered himself. While the fall might have injured her, there was no indication that she had cut herself somehow while falling and her dress was still completely intact.

Questions can wait. Mai can't. He grabbed one of his Dao swords, which had fallen off the wall. He carefully used it to cut her dress open revealing her back to him. He froze a moment as he saw what had triggered the bleeding. Two of the many knives Mai always hid somewhere in her clothes had somehow got free and cut deep into the pale skin of the young woman. There was a lot of blood, but not enough as there might have if a major artery had been damaged. Zuko had been in enough fights to learn a bit on how to deal with wound, especially those one can easily receive in combat. One of her knives had already removed itself from the wound while the other was still in it. The first one must have fallen out after she crashed against the wall and sank the to the floor.

"Mai, don't move. You are injured, but nothing I can handle" I hope. He added in his head. The girl did not respond and had most likely lost consciousness. He looked around in the room. The captain had a small reserve of fire wine in one of his drawers. It was almost pure alcohol and if one was not careful while drinking it, it gave on the feeling a volcano was erupting in ones body. Zuko had learnt this the hard time the first time he tried it. He got the bottle and the drinking bowl. Both were luckily made out of metal otherwise they would not have survived that blast. Nobody with a hint of common sense used porcelain dishware on a ship.

Zuko lied the bowl next to the still bleeding Mai and quickly bured half of the bottle in it. He then ripped part of robe in pieces. He put them in the bowl, using the alcohol to sterilize it as much as possible. He took a small piece in his right hand and used it remove the knife carefully from the wound without touching anything with his unclean hands.  
If she was awake this would be much harder...for the both of us.  
The stiletto removed he took the half-empty bottle and pured the remaining wine on both wounds, cleaning them and making sure there was nothing left in the wound. Next he took two pieces of robe from the bowl and put them on both wounds.  
I need something to that keeps pressure on the wound. Once more he let his eyes fly, but he could find nothing suitable in the cabin. Due the lack of better alternatives he flipped off his shoes and put them on the makeshift bandages.

Now I need something long..like a curtain or... He jumped of the ground and ripped on of the large Fire Nation flags from the wall. The flag was almost twice as long as Zuko but only a few feet wide. He cut it in half in the middle with his sword, and then softly used it to fixate the bandages and sandals on back by wrapping it around her. He had to be careful since he always had to lift her up to move the flag under her chest. After he wrapped it around her several times, he made sure that it was tight enough the prevent her from losing more blood, but not so tight that she should have no problems breathing.

The Door swung open and two Fire Nation soldiers stormed into the room. "Prince Zuko!" the first one shouted out. "Are you alright?". He looked at the prince who was kneeing next to Mail blood on his hands and clothers.  
"I'm fine, but Mai is wounded. She has two bleeding wounds in her back, and maybe some broken bones."  
He nodded to his second man. "He will take care of her. We need you to take command of the Ship, the Captain is missing and the second in command was knocked out by the blast."

Hesitantly Zuko left Mai's side as the second soldier started to inspect the bandages he had applied.  
Get yourself together. You have a whole ship to worry about, and not just one girl. He tried to reshift his focus, but his eyes stayed on Mai  
"What happened? Are we under attack?" he asked without looking up.

"No, at least not direct. We must have run of one of those dreaded mines by the Water Tribe." the soldier explained.

"And What happened to the Captain? How bad is the damage? Is the ship still seaworthy and are there any casualties?" Finally Zuko was managed to concentrate on the ship and its crew as a whole.

"You...better look for yourself." was the enigmatic answer he got.

A few minutes later they entered a hallway, near the bug in the backboard side of the ship. Seawater had come in and was about a a half feet high, but did seem to rise further. The Soldier who had lead the Fire Prince here pointed to the wall that separated it from the next room. It was extremely damaged and it looked there had been a hole blasted through it, several feet high and wide, but the place where the whole should have been was covered by a weird metal object.

"The mine exploded and ripped part sof the ship open. Including this." Zuko noticed that his voice was stocking. "The captain and a few others were in that part of the ship. They must have survived the initial explosion and even the water breach."

"So they might be still alive?" Zuko asked and was already trying to figure out a way how to get in that part of the ship to save those trapped.

"No, Prince Zuko, I fear not. You see that hole? Someone used a metal table to block it and then melted it with firebending at the wall. Whoever might have survived the the mine sacrificed himself to seal the rest from the ship of from the water breach."

Zuko was silent. His head created images. How it must have been like on the other side? Cold water coming in fast from all sides..and yet the only thing those trapped thought about was saving the Ship and the rest of the crew. They had closed the hole in this wall, doomed themselves to save the others. To save me.

One hour later Zuko was standing in the bridge of the crippled ship. A crewmate, with bandages around his head instead if a helmet and approached the Fire Prince.

"We have the situation under control..as far as it possible considering the circumstances."

The soldier started his report. He neither used Zuko's formal title nor had offered the salute, but the Prince could not care less. All the men had gone above and beyond to keep the ship from sinking or taking care of the several wounded. They all had better things to do right now then to worry about traditions.

"We can get the ship moving again..but only slowly. If we go too fast she won't hold together. And there is no way make it all the way home. We have tu return to the nearest port in the Earth Kingdom."

To Zuko's own surprise he hardly cared about that his homecoming had been once more delayed. Right now he wanted to see his men, and Mai, save. Nothing more.

"How does it look in the mess hall?" The mess hall had been turned into a makeshift hospital. There were few members of the crew who got through this whole ordeal without any injuries, and it was the only place big enough to take in all the wounded. Except for Mai, who was lying in Zuko's quarter, everyone who was not able to stand and help with the repairs was there.

"The First Officer has woken up, but won't be able to return to duty for some time more. Also we have lost 2 more men. Their injuries were to severe and we don't have the means to treat them."

The soldier looked down. All in all they had now lost eight men. Half of them, including the captain, drowned in the bug section. The others died in the shockwave or due wounds received from the same.

Zuko was thinking for a few seconds. Those soldiers had been his men. He was their Prince. It had been his duty to protect them but he failed.  
Failing those who depend on me, once again. Seems almost like I am developing a pattern.  
But this was not the time for self pity. He still had a ship and people he had to get to safety.

"Ok soldier, before we turn around I want you to do the following. Get every piece of debris, cargo and whatever else you can find for what we have no more need and throw it over board..." Zuko stocked, he did not like the next part of his order but he saw no other way.

"Also I want the remains of all fallen crewmembers to be thrown into the water, without their armour..."

"My Prince!" the soldier starred at him, his eyes wide open.

Zuko raised on of his hand to sign the crewman to calm down.

"I don't like it, but we have to do this. Whoever put those mines here will surely come back to see if something went into his trap. There is already enough debris in the water to show them that they hit something. No we have to make them believe that the mine destroyed the boat. If they hunt us down we won't stand a chance."

The shock from the soldiers face faded but it was clear that he still did not like the order.

"When we throw all those things over board, including our fallen, they will believe that they got all of us. The Captain and the other gave their life to save this ship, and now it is on us to make sure that they did it not for nothing. If this means that I have to leave behind the body of those we lost, so be it..as long as I can bring the rest of the crew home."

"I ..understand." the soldier answered. He turned around and was on his way to fulfil the order but Zuko stopped him.

"And one more thing. When you have a moment..please bring me a list with the names of all who died. I will personally see to it that their families hear what happened today."

"Yes my Prince." the soldier replied formal and bowed to him before leaving the bridge.


End file.
